Month: July 2026

PMEA Pride and “Making a Difference”

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Reflections and Reminiscences… Ramblings of a Retiree

The face of the young lady in the checkout line behind me lit up when she saw me in my PMEA polo shirt. “Are you still involved in PMEA?” she asked. I said, “We never retire from music!” You would have thought I made her day! You could tell by her smile and animated voice (which caught the attention of onlookers) that the magical PMEA logo must have sparked within her an instantaneous reminiscence of recent public-school music experiences. “I was drum major at Peters Township High School and went to All-State Band,” she shared. “Now I am in the Kent State Marching Band… and love it!” She added with reverence. “At Kent State, we have 275 musicians on the field! It’s an amazing experience!” Proof positive: PMEA and her school music teachers truly had made a difference in her education… continuing the future embrace of many more memorable moments of lifelong learning in creative self-expression!

I have always said, “If you cut me, I bleed PMEA blue!” My own inspiration and career trajectory was energized during my years at Penn Hills as a performer in PMEA Band Festivals (on tuba) and Orchestra festivals (on viola).  [Bragging rights – I went all the way to PMEA All-State Band and All-State Orchestra (different years) and played in the MENC (now NAfME) Eastern Division Orchestra during my senior year.] I followed this with the singular focus of majoring in music (viola performance) and music education at Carnegie-Mellon University, participating as a state officer in the precursor of what is now known as the PA Collegiate Music Educators Association and eventually serving as PMEA District 1 Secretary/Treasurer, attending nearly every local and state PMEA music festival for 20 years. (Back in those days, someone had to total, rank, and archive the audition scores, publish the District 1 newsletter, and train the festival hosts!) Retired in 2013 from full-time teaching at the Upper St. Clair School District, today I remain active in PMEA as the State Retired Member Coordinator, serve on the Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention, and present workshop sessions at state and national conferences. It has been my privilege to serve YOU and PMEA!

PMEA was always there for me during my times of need, such as when I was suddenly assigned to teaching high school choral music (never sang a day in a high school or college choir) and that one-year “experiment” of adding to my schedule the duties of a substitute elementary band director regenerating my own skills in “crossing the break” on the clarinet or playing a rock-solid paradiddle on the snare drum. Thankfully, during these rehabilitation and recertification periods, I not only survived, I thrived! PMEA conferences were my salvation. [I digress with more bragging: A quick estimate of my attendance to PMEA Annual and Summer Conferences would total more than 50 professional development events.]

“The spirit of PMEA” resonates with the value of our collective aspirations for the highest standards in music and music education, collaboration and volunteerism. Originating in 1933 as the Pennsylvania Bandmasters Association, PMEA evolved from a small group of dedicated band directors who wanted to build something “bigger and better” for their students, to morphing into a professional association for all aspects of music education, now annually servicing literally thousands of elementary, middle, high school, and college students and their educators in band, chorus, general music, guitar, jazz, Modern Band, music technology, orchestra and strings throughout the Commonwealth, dedicated to “promoting the musical development of all Pennsylvanians.”

Obviously, as retired or active PMEA members: WE CARE… and it shows in these random super positive “run-ins” of our current and former students, music parents, and community supporters. It gives me great pleasure to “bump into” our radiant music graduates and their families recalling stories of their school music and PMEA memories in grocery stores, shopping malls, even pushing wheelchairs at the local hospital. The joy on their faces is precious! I ask them, “As an adult, are you still singing or playing your instrument?” This usually leads me into my “soapbox” lecture on the essential lifelong pursuit of music learning. (“Stamp Out the PHOBIA of Amateur Music-Making”)

THANK YOU for your professionalism and ongoing commitment to PMEA and our profession. As we commemorate our country’s 250th anniversary and celebrate PMEA’s upcoming 100-year milestone (in 2033?), let’s all “take to heart” the inscription on the PMEA retired member mugs: “Never forget the difference you’ve made!”

Circles of Life (in Music Education)

Photos from the PMEA Annual Conference at Kalahari, April 2026

Recap

For a follow-up, please peruse these past articles:

Click here for 874 more photographs from the most recent PMEA Annual Conference, Kalahari Resort in the Poconos, April 2026

PKF

© 2026 Paul K. Fox